And, according to Sci Fi Wire, via Gale Anne Hurd and Kevin Feige, producers of the upcoming Hulk movie, this is just what they’ve tried to do.
"It's nice to be able to let things evolve, and we set things up with this film," Hurd said in an interview last week at New York Comic Con. "We have Tim Blake Nelson playing Dr. Samuel Sterns, and anyone who is a fan of the comic books knows that Samuel Sterns turns into the Leader, so there is an opportunity to explore that. It's in this film, but for people who aren't aware of that, it's not confusing."
Now, I’m not 100% certain just why Hurd believes that this is a lead in to the Avengers. The Leader was always a Hulk villain, and seemingly had very little interaction with the Marvel team.
"I can definitely say that part of the fun of doing all these characters in-house now, the ones we have the rights to, is all about being able to bring something that has never been on screen before, which is the Marvel universe," Feige said. "Any comic-book reader knows that you can flip through any given issue of a comic and not know who to expect popping into a panel. That's part of the fun of what Stan [Lee] and Jack [Kirby] did so many years ago, by intertwining these characters. We haven't had that ability until now."
The Incredible Hulk is set to debut internationally on the 12th of June, the 13th in the US. Zak Penn has been attached to the Avengers movie, which is slated to be filmed for a 2010 cinematic release.